The popular saying “Nothing lasts forever” may not be valid anymore when it comes to concealed carry licenses in Louisiana.
House Bill 265 by Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Baton Rouge, would allow gun owners to obtain lifetime concealed carry permits for a one-time fee of $500.
Currently, concealed carry owners have to reapply for their licenses for $125 every five years. The reapplication process also includes mandatory training courses.
Cameron Cooke, legislative assistant to Rep. Ivey, said the bill is not controversial because it includes an amendment to continue education.
“The concealed carry holder still has to continue to be able to pass the education part of the exam every five years,” Cooke said.
Cooke said the purpose of the bill is to save citizens money and time by eliminating the reapplication process.
Daniel Zelenka, president of the Louisiana Shooting Association said via email the organization has not taken a stance on the bill.
With a father in the Army, electrical engineering junior Martea Aultman has grown up around guns.
She is currently in the process of obtaining a concealed carry license through the state of Utah, and the license will be valid in Louisiana.
Although Aultman said she believes in Second Amendment rights, she said she does not agree with HB 265.
“It’s important for people to reapply,” Aultman said.
Sport administration freshman Jake Shows said he has owned a gun since he was 15 and uses it for hunting and recreational shooting.
Similarly, Shows feels a lifetime permit would be inappropriate.
“I don’t think you should have one for a lifetime, because at some point in your life, you shouldn’t be running around with a gun,” Shows said.
Environmental engineering junior Samantha Martello also said she believes the lifetime permit should be situational.
Martello said when purchasing the license, an individual might be in a fine mental state, but one can go through changes that can make him or her unfit to own a concealed carry weapon.
Through concealed carry training, Aultman said instruction courses have enforced shooting for safety and protection but not shooting to kill.
Shows said no matter how long a permit lasts, gun owners should know gun safety and the changes in laws.
“I don’t think you should have one for a lifetime because at some point in your life you shouldn’t be running around with a gun.”
